Recent Articles from Gary Harvey
The pain imperative in sales
Selling is not all about price. This is a rampant excuse that salespeople use to justify not getting a deal. Low price is not essential to closing a deal. Price plays a role, but it’s essential only if salespeople allow it to be. Price becomes essential when we haven’t provided anything else as criteria for […]
Sales obsession
Successful salespeople have an absolute need to do what has to be done each and every day to reach their goals. They have a need to do those things to their very best ability—no compromises. They are absolutely, positively obsessed with their work while they are doing it. That doesn’t mean they work 15 hours […]
Perfect — and improving
I recently was coaching a client who has a “perfectionist” streak. I asked her, “Describe to me what perfection is?” She did. My reply was, “I’m disappointed because that description doesn’t sound perfect to me.” Of course, I was kidding, and she knew that. But my point was serious. Trying to be perfect is a […]
Why the highest paid make so much
There are a number of theories and concepts as to why. One concept attracted my attention: Winner take all: This theory contends that there are some people who are just really good at their jobs. As technology improves and markets get larger, the best workers know how to leverage those advances to...
Overcoming sales stalls
Business owners, CEOs and VPs of sales often ask, “How do my salespeople overcome stalls and objections?” My answer is, you’re not going to get past them if you think in a traditional sales way. If stalls and objections come up all too often on sales calls, bring them up before your prospect does. Many […]
Believe in success
Your beliefs, positive or negative, have more impact on both your personal and professional success than any single element. Many salespeople possess extensive knowledge of their product and have great sales skills, yet their sale performance is average at best. Other salespeople with little product knowledge, very few prospects in their pipeline, an inability […]
The sin of sales assumption
Does this happen to your salespeople? Prospect says, “This looks really good. I can’t imagine why we would not do business. There’s an excellent chance we will do business together.” The salesperson assumes, “Closed deal!” Prospect says, “I never expected your price to be so high!.” The salesperson assumes, “I’ll have to discount my price […]
A quick trick for talking money
Most salespeople I know have self-limiting beliefs around having discussions about money, a condition I call “money head trash”. When salespeople have money head trash, it indicates several possible underlying factors: They are uncomfortable talking about money; they are unable to uncover an actual budget; or they have an unreasonably low concept of how much […]
Who’s your ideal sales prospect?
One of the common problems for sales organizations is not really knowing what their ideal client looks like. As a result, they have their salespeople calling on too many “suspects” versus quality, qualified prospects. Too many sales organizations unknowingly are telling their salespeople in so many words, “If it’s got a pulse and fogs a […]
How to make networking work
People in business know they should go to networking events. But many people either don’t know how to network effectively at these events or have a fear of networking, period. Here are some areas to consider when you go to a networking event. The Five Greatest Networking Sins: Spend time talking to friends about how […]
How to stay out of voicemail jail
One issue many salespeople struggle with is voicemail. Prospects hide behind it, screening then simply ignoring your message. Too many voicemail failures, and you end up in what I call “voicemail jail”. There are a number of ways to improve your chances of getting a return call from a voicemail. Here are some tips: • […]
Salespeople: You think selling’s tough?
I recently saw 42, the Jackie Robinson story. Wonderful movie! When I see all the obstacles and emotional turmoil he went through as the first black man in major league baseball, I said to myself, “And there are salespeople out there that think selling is tough? They think cold-calling is tough? Are you kidding?” It […]